Feed-regulating mechanism for fertilizer-spreaders.



PATENTED EBB. 7, 1905.

C. L. V. KINNBY.

FEED REGULATING MECHANISM FOR FERTILIZER SPREADBRS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY No. 781,956. PATENTBD FEB. 7, 1905. O. L. V. KINNEY.

FEED REGULATING MECHANISM FOR FERTILIZER SPREADERS.

APPLIOATIOH rmm nov. e. 1903.

4 SHEETB-SHEBT 2.

mvsmon Came/MI. Vizkw y No. 781,956. PATENTED FEB. '7, 1905. G. L. V. KINNEY.

FEED REGULATING MECHANISM FOR FERTILIZER SPREADERS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES l N EN TO R v C/emezrfZV/Vizv rg TTORNEY PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9. 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVENTOR Clement 2/77/11 WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY Patented February 7, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- CLEMENT L. V. KINNEY, OF NEYARK, OHIO, ASSIHNOR TO THE NlfllVAR-K MACHINE COMPA. Y, OF N Ell'ARK, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

FEED-REGULATING MECHANISM FOR FERTlLlZER-SPREADERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,956, dated February '7, 1905.

1903. Serial No. 180,323.

To 11]] 'II'ZI/UIII/ if may concern:

Be it known that I, CLEMENT L. V. KINNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Feed-Regulating Mechanism for Fertilizer-Spreaders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the improvement of IO fertilizer-distributers; and the objects of my invention are to provide, in connection with a fertilizer-distributer, improved mechanism for regulating the discharge of the material from the wagon or machine bed, to so construct my improved regulating mechanism as to admit of the same being so set as to control the amount of fertilizer distributed to the acre of l ground, and to produce other improvements 1 the details of which will be more fully pointed out hereinafter. These objects I accomplish in the manner illustrated in the accompany- 5 ing drawings, in whicl Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the fertilizer-bed, showing thereon the means for operating my improved regulating device. Fig. is a detail view in perspective of the lever-engaging keeper. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the rear portion of the wagon or machine bed, showing my improved regulating mechanism thereon. Fig. l is a reduced central longitudinal section of the wagon-bed, showing the means for carrying the fertilizing material toward the rear end of the machine. Fig. is sectional view of the feed regulating and driving mechanism on line .r .r of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the feed re ulating and d rivin mechanism. F1 7 is a 1 sectional view on line 3 y of Fig. 0. Fig. 8 is a detail inner side view of the pitman and 4 sprocket employed in the feed regulating and driving mechanism. a portion of a link-arm employed in the manner hereinafter described.

larged detail view of the feed-operating Fig. 10 is an en- Fig. 9 is a face view of Similar numerals refer to similar parts 5 throughout the several views.

In the class of fertilizor-distri buters to which my invention applies a wagon-bed is provided with an internal "feeding device which travels toward the rear end of the bed and gradually forces or discharges the load therefrom. In order to illustrate the use of my improved regulating mechanism, 1 have shown a \\"agon bed 1, through which adjacent to the floor thereof run endless chain bolts 2, the latter running over forward and rear sprocketwheels 3 and 4. The means which I have shown for the purpose of forcing the material to the rear end of the wagon-bed consist in the employment of an upright plate 5, the 5 base of which is connected with said sprocketchains. This mechanism is well known, however, and may be varied as desired, the principal object of the present invention being to regulate the speed of the sprocket-chains 2, 7 and consequently the speed at which the plate 5 moves.

Projecting from a suitable base-plate b, which is secured to one side of the wagon-bed 1 in the rear portion thereof, is a pin or stud 7 on which is rotatably mounted a sprocketwheel 8, the latter having an inwardly-extending hubb, which is eccentric to said sprocketwheel. Pivoted on the pin 7 near its inner end at the junction of its arms is a bell-crank 50 lever 9, and journaled on the hub 5" of the sprocket-wheel is the inner ring-like head of a pitman-bar ll), the latter having a oke-like termination, as shown more clearly in Fig. 7.

As indicated in the drawings, the yoke mem- 5 bers of the pitman ll) embrace the upper and lower sides of the curved linklike extension ll" of a lever II, which at a point below the center of its length is pivoted to a stud 12, which projects from an extension 6 of said base 6. 9 Pivoted on the outer end of the stud T is one end of a bar 13, the outer end portion of which lies on the outer side of the outer yoke member of the pitman 10. The bar 13 and the arm 9 of the bell-crank 9 are rigidly connected th rough the medium of a short bar ll. (Shown more clearly in Fig. 6.) \Vithin the slotted opening of the link 11 is provided a sliding block 15, (see Figs. 7 and 9,) and this sliding block is pierced by a pin 16, which passes through opposing openings in the yoke-terminating members of the pitman and through the recessed ends of the bar 13 and bell-crank arm 9, said pin carrying within said end recesses rollers 17.-

Carried on one end of the shaft at, on which the rear sprocket-wheels tare mounted, is the hub 18*ofa ratchet-wheel18. Mounted loosely on the shaft 1 on the outer sides of the hub 18 are the corresponding ends of upwardlyextending bars 19 and 20, which extend, respectively, on the outer and inner sides of the ratchetwheel. Beyond the periphery of the latter I pivot between the outward extensions of said bars a pawl 21, the rearward extension of this pawl being connected with the extremity of the arm 20 through the medium of a spring 22, said spring serving to normally hold the forward or toothed end of the pawl in engagement-with the teeth of the ratchet 18. The pawl 21 is provided adjacent to its forward end with a short upwardly-extending arm or lug 23. I also mount loosely on the shaft 4: on the inner sides of the bars 19 and 20 a pair of bars 2 1 and 25, corresponding in form and arrangement with the bars 19 and 20, although normally extending forward and upward from said shaft. Between the outer end portions of these bars 24 and 25 is pivoted a pawl 26, the latter, as prescribed for the pawl 21, having its extension connected with the extremity of the lower bar 25 through a spring 27. The tooth end of said pawl is normally held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel through the medium of said spring, and said tooth end is also provided with a projecting lug, which is indicated at 28. As indicated in the drawings, the pivotpin .19 of the pawl 21 also pierces the rear ends of a pair of forwardly-extending bars '29,,the forward ends of said bars being pivotally connected, as indicated at in Fig. 3, with the link portion 11 of the lever 11. A similar pair of bars 31 connect the pivot-pin of the pawl 26 with the lever 11 below its pivot-point.

32 represents a casting-or bracket-plate which is secured to the side of the wagon-bed, and to this casting is pivoted near the center of its length and atapoint above and in front of the center of the ratchet-wheel 18 a lever 33, this lever comprising arms 33 and 33", at the junction of which is formed a gear-segment 33. The outer end of the upwardly-extendinglever-arm 33 is provided with an elongated head having a slotted opening'3t therein, and the end of the lower arm 33 is provided with an outwardly-projecting pin 35, which works loosely in a slotted opening 36 in one end of a connecting-bar 37 The slotted opening 36 allows the pawl 26 to operate. The opposite or lower end of this connectingbar is in a similar manner connected with a pin which projects from the lug 28 of the pawl 26. \Vith the teeth of the segment 33 engage the teeth on the end of an arm 38, which is also pivoted to the casting 32, this arm 38 extending rearwardly and being connected through a connecting-bar 39 with the lug 23 of the pawl 21, as prescribed for the connection between the lever-arm 33 and the pawl.- lug 28.

Pivoted to the wagon-bed side at a point opposite and in rear of the outer end of the lever-arm 33 is a bell-crank trip-lever 40, the latter having its upper or trigger arm 40 passing through a slotted opening in a laterallyprojecting top flange 1* of the wagon-bed. The remaining arm 10 of the bell-crank L0 is adapted to engage a notch or shoulder 4L1. formed in the upper and rear side of the arm 33. This latter arm is normally pulled rearwardly and downwardly through the medium of a spring 412, the rear and lower end of which engages a suitable hook projection 13 in the rear end portion of the bed. The trigger-arm 10* has a forward pull exerted thereon from a spring 44, which is connected with said trigger-arm and with a suitable hook 15 on the wagon-bed. The upper member 33 has its slotted end connected with a rearward extension 46 of the lever-arm 10 through the medium of a connecting-bar 47, one end of said connecting-bar having a slotted opening 18, which receives an outwardly-projecting pin 19 of the extension-arm 46. The forward end of the bar 47 has engaged therewith the outturned end 50 of a forwardly-extending operating-rod 50, this rod 50 leading to the forward end of the wagon-bed and, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, being pivotally connected to an operating-lever 51, one end of which is pivoted to a bracket 52 of said bed. The outturned end 50 of rod 50 passes first through slot 34 of 33 and is then engaged with the forward end of bar 47.

With the outer end of the upper arm of the bell-crank 9 (see Figs. 5 and 3) is connected the rear end of an operating-rod 52, the latter extending forward parallel with the rod 50 and having its forward end connected with a lever 53, the lower end of which is pivoted to the side of the bed and the upper portion of which extends through alongitudinally-arranged keeper 5 1 at the upper side of said bed. This keeper, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings, is provided on the inner side of its outwardly-projecting portion with suitable and properly-separated notches 55, with the desired one of which said lever is adapted to be held in engagement through pressure of a spring-strip 56, secured to the lever and bearing against the top flange 1 of the bed,

With the hub of one of the rear groundwheels 57 is connected a sprocket-wheel 58, and about the latter runs an endless chain belt 59,the latter also running over the smaller sprocket-wheel 8 and about the forward side of a guide-roller 60, which is adjustably supported from the side of the wagon-bed between said sprocket-wheels.

In order to illustrate the operation of my improved mechanism, I will assume that the fertilizer-carrying plate 5 is in the forward end portion of the wagon-bed and that the bed in rear of said plate is loaded with the material to he discharged therefrom. 1 will also assume that the lever 53 has been made to engage the desired one of the notches 55 of the keeper 5% and that the forwardly-extending arm of the belt-crank lever 40 is in engagement with the shoulder or notch 41 of the lever 31. The parts being in this position, it will he understood that the toothed ends of the pawls 21 and 26 are in position to successively engage the teeth of the ratchetwheel 18. The forward movement of the wagon and the consequent rotary motion imparted to the sprocket-wheel 58 results in a rotation of the sprocketwheel 8, which through the eccentric arrangement of its hub 8 results in a reciprocating movement of the pitman 11). This reciprocating movement of said pitman results, as will be understood, in rocking the lever 11 on its pivot 12 and in imparting reciprocating movements to the bars 29 and 31, these bars causing a backwardand-forward swinging movement of the bars 15) and 21 and in imparting a corresponding backward-and-forward traveling movement to said pawls. It will be understood, however, that said pawls in their forward movement will travel over the teeth of the ratchetwheel without effecting a movement of said wheel and that the rearward movement of said pawls, however, will result in a corresponding rotary movement of said ratchetwheel, owing to the engagement of the pawls therewith. It is obvious from the connections described that when one of said pawls is traveling forward over the teeth the remaining pawl will he exerting a pulling force on said ratchet-wheel, with the result that a substantially continuous movement of the ratchetwheel is assured. This turningof the ratchetwheel and its shaft +1 results through the traveling motion imparted to the chains 2 in a gradual rearward movement of the fertilizerarrying plate This plate may be provided, as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, with a lateral projection 62, which when the plate has reached the rear end portion of the wagon and the load is discharged therefrom will contact with the trigger-like extension 10 of the lever 11), operating to force the arm 11) of said lever out of engagement with the arm 33 of the lever This being accomplished, the spring 12 is free to act to pull the upper end of the lever rearward, resulting through the ugward and forward movement of the lever-arm 33" and the upward turning of the toothed bar 38 in drawing the tooth ends of the pawls out of the path of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, thereby permitting of the fertiliZer-carrying plate 5 being returned to the forward end of the bed. The lever 51 may be used to throw the pawls out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel at any time by moving the same rearwardly, which causes the rod 50 to be thrown rearward] y. The outturned end 5U of the rod resting in the slot 3 1 travels the length thereof and moves the connecting-bar 1T rearwardly, the pin-e19 traveling in the slot 18 until it reaches the end thereof, when the lever 10 is thrown backward. raising the arm 40", which allows the lever 33 to be swung backward by the spring 12, and thus trip the pawls. It is obvious that were it not for the slot 31 the lever-arm 33 could not move independently of the outturned end of the rod 50. It is also apparent that the slot 18 must he provided in order to allow the independent operation of the lever 40 by means of the lateral projection It will be understood that the pawls are again thrown into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel by a forward move ment of the lever 51, which results in a forward pull of the arm 33 of the lever 33 and a consequent dropping of the arm 10" into engagement with the notch or shoulder 11 of said arm 33.

It will be readily seen that the extent of rearward movement of the bars 29 and 31 and the consequent extent of the traveling movement of the pawls over the teeth of the ratchet-wheel will be controlled by the degree of rocking movement of the lever 11 and that this movement of said lever depends upon the position of the sliding block 15 in the slotted opening of said lever. This block heingcar ried by the arm 13 and the bell-crank 9 and the latter being connected with the lever 53, it will be understood that the position of the sliding block within the slot or mortise of the lever 11 will depend upon the position of the lever within its keeper 51. In this connection it will readily be seen that when said lever is in the forward notch of the keeper and the sliding block 15 is in the upper end of the slot of the lever 11 the extent of movement of the pawl-carrying bars will be comparatively less than if said levers were thrown into one of the rear notches of the keeper. In this manner it will be understood that the speed of the parts controlling the movement of the fertilizer-plate within the bed may be regulated to conform to the amount of fertilizer to be discharged to the acre of ground.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1; In a feed-regulating mechanism for fertilizer-Spreaders, the combination with a vehicle-bed and its grouml-wheels, a traveling discharging device contained in said bed, a journaled shaft for driving said discharging device and a ratchet-wheel carried on said shaft, of a pivoted lever 11, pivoted pawls adapted to engage the teeth of said ratchetwheel, bars connecting said pawls with said lever, means for imparting a rocking motion to said lever and for varying the extent of such motion, a spring-actuated pivoted triplever 40, a pivoted spring-actuated lever 33 adapted to engage one arm of said trip-lever and connected with one of said pawls and connections between the remaining pawl and said lever 33 whereby the swinging movement of the lever 33 will result in the disengagement of said pawls from the teeth of the ratchetwheel.

2. In a feed-regulatingmechanism for fertilizer-Spreaders, the combination with a vehicle-bed and its ground-wheels, a traveling discharging device contained in said bed, a journaled shaft for driving said discharging device, and a ratchet-wheel carried on said shaft, of pivoted arms 19 and 20 and 24: and 25 extending on opposite sides'of said ratchetwheel, spring-actuated pawls pivoted in the outer ends of each pair of said arms, a pivoted spring-actuated bell-crank &0 having a trip projection, a pivoted spring-actuated lever 33 having one arm adapted to engage an arm of said bell-crank and having its remaining arm connected with one of said pawls, an arm 38 engaging and swung by said lever 33 and a connection between said arm 38 and the remaining pawl, means for imparting a backward-and-forward swinging movement to the pawl-carrying bars and means for swinging said lever 33.

3. In a feed-regulating mechanism for fertilizer-Spreaders, the combination with a vehicle-bed and ground-wheels, a traveling discharging device contained in said bed, a journaled shaft controlling the movement of said discharging device, a ratchet-wheel carried on said shaft, of an eccentrically-journaled sprocket-wheel 8, a pivoted lever 11 having a curved slotted extension, a sliding block in said slotted opening, a pitman loosely embracing the hub of said sprocket-wheel and connected with said sliding block, a pivoted bell-crank lever having one of its arms connected with said pitman and sliding block,

means for swinging and holding said bellcrank, pivoted pawls adapted to engage the teeth of said ratchet-wheel, bars connecting said pawls with said lever 11, a sprocket-wheel carried by one of the ground-wheels of the vehicle and a belt connection between said sprocket-wheel 8 and said groundwheel sprocket-wheel.

4. In a feed-regulating mechanism for fertilizer-Spreaders, the combination with a vehicle-bed and ground-wheels, a traveling dis' charging device contained in said bed, a jour naled shaft controlling the movement of said discharging device, a ratchet-wheel carried on said shaft, of an eccentrically journaled sprocket-wheel 8, a pivoted lever 11 having a curved slotted extension, a sliding block in said slotted opening, a pitman loosely embracing the hub of said sprocket-wheel and connected with said sliding block, a pivoted bellcrank lever having one of its arms connected with said pitman and sliding pawls adapted to engage the teeth of said ratchet-wheel, bars connecting said pawls with said lever 11, a sprocket-wheel carried by one of the groundwheels of the vehicle, a pivoted bell-crank 40, a pivoted lever 33 adapted to normally engage one arm of said bell-crank and connections between said bell-crank 33 and said pawls wherep by the disengagement of the bell-crank 40 and the lever 33 will result in lifting the pawls out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel.

CLEMENT L. V. KINNEY. In presence of J NO. P. MoCUNE, EDWARD C. SHARPE 

